


rotten work

by itsawesternhenry



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 06:52:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16487825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsawesternhenry/pseuds/itsawesternhenry
Summary: Post Malone is playing when Mitch finally gets back to the apartment. That's not necessarily a good thing.





	rotten work

**Author's Note:**

> just something soft and fluffy in light of auston's injury. also my first foray into this fandom, so feedback is much appreciated!
> 
> title from an excerpt from anne carson's translation of euripides' "Orestes" found [here](https://soracities.tumblr.com/post/169231372828/euripides-from-orestes-an-oresteia-trans) .  
> PYLADES: I'll take care of you.  
> ORESTES: It's rotten work.  
> PYLADES: Not to me. Not if it's you.
> 
> clearly this is all from my imagination and never actually happened.

Post Malone is playing when Mitch finally gets back to the apartment. If it was _Jackie Chan_ , or even _Rockstar_ , Mitch would know that the visit with the trainers went well and that he should call in to their favorite Thai place to celebrate. Unfortunately, it’s _Feeling Whitney_ echoing through the apartment, so he heads straight to the freezer to pull out some of Mama Matthews’s tortilla soup to let it thaw while he cuddles a disappointed Auston. Mitch follows the trail of shoes and jacket to the bedroom while Post _ooh-ooohs_ overhead. 

Auston’s sprawled out on the bed when Mitch finally reaches him. Or, carefully stretched out – his legs are all over the place but he’s got one arm gingerly wrapped around the body pillow he bought the last time he hurt his shoulder. The sight brings back painful memories from February – Auston, frustrated about not playing and grumpy because of how the pain meds made him feel; Mitch, struggling to get off the fourth line and trying not to put any more weight on Auston’s weary shoulders. At least the bags under his eyes aren’t as bad this time.

Auston pulls him out of his reverie by blinking an eye open and grumbling, “I wish I could drink eighty beers right now.”

Mitch _hmms_ in consideration. “If you’re gonna do cheat day, do it right. What did the trainers say?”

Auston doesn’t respond at first, closing his eye and burrowing back into his pillow, but Mitch doesn’t need him to – his careful grip on the body pillow and the wince that crosses his face when he tries to shrug are answer enough. “Dislocated shoulder. Four weeks.”

“Shit.”

“Mmm.”

In the background, _Feeling Whitney_ gives over to the Lumineers. Mitch would grin, because he was the one to introduce Auston to them, but it’s _Slow It Down_ , which bodes ill for Auston’s mental state. 

Cuddling always makes Mitch feel better, though, so he sets to work.

“Scooch over.”

Auston makes a noise of protest while Mitch kicks off his shoes and shimmies out of his sweatshirt but he moves for Mitch amiably enough, allowing him to gently pull the pillow out from under his arm and take its place. Mitch shuffles the pillow behind his back before falling still and letting Auston arrange himself overtop, bad arm draped across both legs, his face pressed into Mitch’s stomach. He starts to hum when Mitch drops a hand to his nape, gentle fingers carding through the soft hairs there. 

“I’m so sorry, baby. Do you want to talk about it?”

Auston’s silent for a long time. A year ago, Mitch might have panicked, bewildered by Auston’s many moods and the different ways they show up. Now, a year and a half into a relationship that shows all the signs of lasting, Mitch can tell the difference between his sullen silences and his brooding ones. So instead of trying to fill the quiet with useless babble, he lets Auston think in peace and focuses on keeping his touch as light as possible.

-0-

“I just thought. I went through enough last season.”

Mitch jolts from where he’d started to doze off against the headboard. The sun has fallen from where it was painting the room gold and overhead, the speakers have long ago left behind the Lumineers. Auston’s hand tightens where it’s wrapped around Mitch’s thigh. Shit, Mitch jostled his bad arm. He presses his fingers a little deeper into Auston’s scalp in apology and makes a noise for him to continue.

“Like, I thought I had lost enough time last season. Everybody misses a few games for something, I just hoped… maybe I’d finally get to make up for how shitty everything went at the end of last year.”

Mitch’s heart aches for him. “Oh, Aus. No one’s blaming you for how last year turned out.”

Auston scoffs. “Tell that to the media.” 

“Matts.” Mitch tugs firmly on his hair, ignores Auston’s retaliatory kick and continues. “I know you know better than to put any stock into what they say. Weren’t you the one telling me that all during my slump last season? That they just need something to write about and to listen to the people that really matter?”

Auston turns to press his face more firmly into his tummy, enough that he has to strain to hear Auston admit, “Those are the people I’m worried about letting down the most.”

“Oh, Auston.”

If Mitch thought his heart was aching earlier, it’s nothing compared to the way it squeezes painfully in his chest at the thought of Auston carrying all that weight around, held tight enough to make him gasp and press a hand to his sternum just to make sure it’s still working. 

Once he feels the tears through his shirt, he wastes no time in carefully lifting Auston’s arm so he can slide down the bed and wraps himself tightly around his boyfriend. Auston presses his face into Mitch’s neck as soon as he’s close enough, and Mitch drops his chin firmly on top of his head, making soothing noises as Auston cries out all the frustrations his injury brought up. 

“I had no idea you were feeling this way, baby, we had no idea. We all know how hard you were working at the end of last season, we all saw how much you cared. It’s not just you out there, anyways, there’s twenty-some guys on this team and all of us contributed to how the season ended.”

“But I was going to make up for it this year – “

“Auston.” Mitch has to shake his head, in awe of Auston Matthews and how much of himself he puts into this sport, this team. “You were matching Lemiux for points to start the season. At one point, your shooting average was _.500_. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble making your presence known when you come back to us.”

Auston pulls back from Mitch’s neck and makes a face. “Yeah, but that was early on. Right before I got hit I wasn’t scoring at all, and – “

“Oh, boo-hoo, Auston Matthews couldn’t keep up his insane multi-goal to start the season, he’ll never score again, washed up at 21-“

“Alright, fuck off,” Auston gripes, but he’s grinning now, and he shoves at Mitch with his good arm. Relief sweeps through Mitch because it’s been a while since he’s seen Auston cry, but his cheeks are drying now and Spotify is cuing up the new Khalid song, lilting Spanish filtering in through the open door and Mitch knows that Auston might be in a funk now but he won’t stay in it, already turning to focus on the recovery ahead of him and the challenges it will bring.

“Hey,” he says, just to make sure Auston knows. “I love you no matter what. You couldn’t let me down if you tried.” Auston makes a disbelieving noise so Mitch presses on. His boyfriend’s gonna know how much he loves him if it kills him. “You could never score another point again and I’d still be proud of you. You could make a turn over that costs us Game 7 of the Final and I’d still be proud, because I love who you are, not what you do.” 

Mitch doesn’t know what his face looks like when he finishes his little speech, but it must be something god-awful because Auston’s face scrunches up looking at it before he facewashes Mitch and flops onto his back. “That was the softest thing I’ve ever hear Marns. Sheesh, do your teeth hurt from how sweet that was? Did you get a cavity?”

Mitch’s boyfriend is an asshole.

It must say something that he loves him anyway.

“Hey, I’m trying to be supportive here.” He tries to look put-upon. Fails. “For real, I’d love you even if you grew some awful monstrosity like Laine’s playoff beard, or even-“

“Alright, fuck you _very_ much, comparing my beard to that thing on Laine’s chin, what the _fuck_ -“

“I don’t know, you were getting close there at the end of the summer, bud-“

“Okay, _wow_ , we’re breaking up now, it’s not me, it’s you-”

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”

“That’s how it’s gonna be.”

Auston manages to look regretful for a full seven second before his face splits into a grin, and it’s Mitch’s favorite, the one that pushes his cheeks up so high up they hide his eyes, making him look so happy that Mitch can’t resist leaning down to press a kiss against his lips. “Feeling better?”

“Much. Thanks for letting me mope all over you.”

“Anytime. Now move, I have to put your mom’s soup in the microwave since it’s probably thawed by now.”

“Ugh, I love you.” 

Mitch lets out an amused snort and pats Auston on the flank as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. Auston catches his wrist before he can stand up. “I’m serious, Marns. I love you so much.”

He’s looking Mitch dead in the eye, like he can force Mitch to understand how serious he is, and it’s an intensity he usually sees from  
Auston on the ice. 

Mitch knew it was in there, but it’s nice to see it directed at himself too.

He smiles softly and turns his hand in Auston’s grip until he can twine their fingers together, bringing them up to his mouth to press a gentle kiss to their knuckles. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> songs referenced in this work:  
>   
> ["Feeling Whitney"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L4b5UKCaFg) \- Post Malone  
> ["Slow it Down"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6XI7r4b3nw) \- The Lumineers  
> ["Suncity (ft. Empress Of)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI2f8eA8x4Q) \- Khalid


End file.
